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Electoral Reform

Hello from Canada! What a week it has been for UK politics – a new Chancellor as the culmination of a week of incompetence after incompetence, and musings now that the Prime Minister is finished one way or another. Frankly this is a shambles, and sadly it is unlikely to be the last from the Conservatives before the next election.

Here’s my issue, and one that I think badly needs to be addressed to stop this sort of this from happening again. The blame can, in my opinion, be almost wholly laid at the feet of the existing system of electing governments. In short, this is the First Past The Post system, so-called because it is made up of a series of elections where a single winner is determined in much the same way as a horse race – in other words, winner takes all. The winners of each local election then go to Westminster, and the largest party usually forms a goverment. When described like this, the system can sound fair, but it is not.

Democracy flourishes when the voices of the electorate are represented in government, not just in parliament. Right now, the system essentially passes near-absolute authority from one party to the main opposition, with all other voices essentially silenced. As an example, in the 2019 General Election, the breakdown of votes was as follows:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election#Results

Or, in table form:

Party% of VoteNumber (%) of seats
Conservative43.6365 (56.2%)
Labour32.1202 (31.1%)
Liberal Democrats11.511 (1.7%)
Scottish National3.948 (7.4%)
Green2.71 (0.2%)
Brexit2.00 (0.0%)
Other2.621 (3.4%)

So what does this mean? Well, at first glance it is clear that there is one major winner out of this, namely the Conservatives. With only 43.6% of the vote, they managed to take 56.2% of seats in Parliament, which effectively affords them 100% of the power, as they have a majority of MPs. All other views are effectively reduced to observer status, with no power afforded to opposition parties other than the right to ask questions of the Prime Minister (which they do not have to answer comprehensively or, it seems, honestly).

Alternatives

If, like me, you believe that parties in Parliament should actually reflect the electorate, there are many ways to bring that into effect. Noteably, proper representation would likely be better achieved by simply picking 650 people at random from the electoral roll to be MPs, eliminating the entire voting process. Clearly this would be an affront to democracy, but importantly it is still a better system than we currently have.

In reality, it would be far better to introduce a form of Proportional Representation, which essentially means that vote share and power share should be the same. In the 2019 General Election, this means the Conservatives would still be the largest party in Parliament, but unless they entered into a coalition with another party, they would be unable to weild the same absolute power that they currently hold. It is vanishingly unlikely that any party would ever again be able to take a majority position in Parliament, which would necessitate a change in political discourse from the curent adversarial approach to a more co-operative one relying on good communication and negotiation.

In short, this would ensure that power was shared among parties depending on how well they reflected the views of the electorate. I genuinely can’t see how this approach to democracy could reasonably be rejected by anyone except those who worry that such a change will result in less power for them and their party. Unfortunately, that means that the Conservatives vehemently oppose this policy, and the Labour leadership have likewise indicated that they do not support this change.

The Liberal Democrats have supported Proportional Representation for decades now, hence my decision to represent them rather than a party which does not believe that democratic votes should lead directly to political power.

Hazeena A

Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.

Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!

You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.

Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident

Sheena Y

Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.

Sheena Y, former co-worker

Andy H

Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.

He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.

Andy H, brother

Luca M

I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.

Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member

Francisco V

Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.

Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend

Irene H

You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.

Irene H, mother

Graham C

First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.

Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend

Anonymous

You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.

Anonymous

Helen C

Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.

Helen C, Aunt

Miles H

Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.

I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.

Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.

Miles H, former co-worker

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